Friday, May 22, 2009

Life in a Small Town

As I've mentioned before (but some of you may not have read back that far) I live in the same small town that I spent my formidable years of my childhood in. I spent most of those years bitching and planning to get out as fast as humanely possible. And I did. First to Norway, then to New Orleans, then L.A. for a while, and lastly to a town a bit to the North (but really not far away) after I got married. After I got divorced, and suddenly became a single mom on a limited income, I couldn't really think of anywhere I'd rather have gone.

I feel like this year is the first year I've looked at my hometown. I mean really looked. As a teen I was so busy looking at it's shortcomings that I was too busy to notice what it had to offer. When I go in the grocery store, it isn't just for food, it's social networking. I can't remember the last time I walked through and didn't have a 10 min conversation with someone. You walk in the door and you're welcomed by name. The bag boys tease the Boy about his mohawk and try to teach him to make crude hand signals while I'm not looking.

This morning when I got coffee, it was made by someone I've known 10 years and who offered to give me her peach jam recipe if I promised to use it. I stopped at the post office, and got lecture by a friend's mom for getting too skinny. She went on and on about how big the Boy was getting and asked me to come pick out any cook books of hers I wanted since 'she has them all memorized'. You just can't replace that.

When I was 17, I couldn't imagine being tied down here. Now I'm not sure I'd ever live anywhere else (unless of course I win the lottery and buy a vacation house in Figi). I've been a lot of places and met a lot of people. But the best friend's I have in my life are the ones I used to chase around the playground and play tether ball with.

I only hope that someday the Boy will feel about this town the way that I do now. I want to make it better, not bigger. My roots are pretty damn dug in here, and I think finally I'm happy that they are.

When my oldest entered highschool we decided to move back to our hometown. The entire town did not have as many people as our son's highschool. We were only going to stay for a few years. It has been 15 years now. I wouldn't give up my 5 acres now for any fancy mansion in any big city.

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